Hey all, sorry for the delay in getting back, but the last few days have been crazy, trying to take care of all the legal aftermath of Dad’s passing. Thankfully, since we knew this was all coming, Mom and I had a lot of our ducks in a row and things have been flowing easily, for the most part. We had some small trip ups in one of their retirement plans, but that has thankfully now been handled, so Mom won’t have to worry about how to pay her bills now that her income will be drastically reduced.
@freckafree: Sorry for the confusion there - my dad met my mom (Rosemary) after both their respective divorces to other people. Legally, he was my step-dad, but he raised me since I was 5 and really has always just been Dad to me. My step-siblings (one brother and one sister) have always just been siblings, and the rest of the family feels the same way. I am also one of those blessed few who can say that my step-dad and my bio-dad didn’t hate each other. My bio-dad is a recovered alcoholic, and would be the first to say that my step-dad was way more a dad to me than he was during my life. He’s been sober now for over ten years, and in those years he and my dad became very good friends.
@Alice the Goon: It’s very possible! We’ve had all sorts of cousins coming out of the woodwork to offer condolences - it’s been really nice connecting with family, some of which we didn’t even know we had.
@Everyone: Thank you so, so much for your thoughts and condolences. Strange as it is to say, it is almost a relief now that he has passed. The docs felt they had exhausted all forms of treatment last November, and so it had been nothing but pain management since then. Watching a man who had always been the strongest man I’ve known slowly deteriorate was a constant agony - thank god for the care of hospice, who made it far more bearable.
Last night, I got the first full night’s sleep I’ve had in almost a year and a half - every night has, till now, been full of stress and worry, and in the last three months, filled with calls to help my mom get dad settled down during his less lucid moments. I find comfort knowing he is no longer hurting, and that Mom can now focus on healing and moving on. Again, thank you all.